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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. object — a thing
  3. court — of a king
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. object — to protest
  6. dip — to sink
  7. sharp — clever
  8. degree — an amount
  9. field — for sport
  10. drill — army training
  11. court — for sport
  12. hand — help
  13. drill — a practice
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. court — of law
  16. degree — temperature
  17. object — an aim
  18. field — a subject
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. degree — from a university
  23. drill — the tool
  24. field — farmland

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com